Cumberland Mayor McKee to run for R.I. lieutenant governor

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Echoing themes such as public safety, economic opportunity and fiscal health
for cities and towns, Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee shared his vision
Wednesday for the office of lieutenant governor and confirmed that he will
run for that office in 2014.

McKee,
standing before 100 supporters in the Neutaconkanut Recreation Center gymnasium, where he once coached basketball, said
he worked for six terms to make Cumberland “a better place to live.”

Now,
in running for lieutenant governor, he said he hopes to do the same for the
state.

“It
is not good enough just to get Rhode Island back on track. It is time for Rhode
Island to get a new set of tracks,” said McKee, a Democrat. “It is time to turn our visions into realities. It is time
for action.”

Turning
those visions into reality means supporting policies that help small
businesses, help cities and towns to stay solvent and help students, parents
and educators to “transform public schools,” he said. It also means supporting
policies that encourage fair wages, helping retirees who are struggling to make
ends meet and supporting “fair and equitable tax structures that make us
competitive with our neighboring states.”

McKee
acknowledged that the office of lieutenant governor has been criticized as lacking
a clear focus or responsibility, but he told reporters that the office “has been
relevant in a lot of ways” and “could be made more relevant.”

“It’s
an office that there is a great deal of influence and if I get there I intent
to use that influence,” he said.

He
cited regionalization as an example, saying that as lieutenant governor, he
would use the office to encourage discussions and plans among community
leaders who understand what types of regionalization will work.

McKee
faces a likely opponent in Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, also a Democrat,
who has said he is planning to run for lieutenant governor.

According to his most recent campaign finance filings to the state Board of Elections, McKee has about $176,000 in his campaign account. Mollis has $47,000 in his campaign fund.

(The original version of this story was published at 12:23 p.m. It was updated at 4 p.m.)